Didn’t really notice it with my Amazon Fire, it being fifty bucks and crippled by Amazon. But I do notice it using daughter’s Lenovo, since she paid a buck eighty for it. So I look and, lo and behold, Android has never had an undo! What sort of POS OS doesn’t have that available on Day 1, much less nine years later?
I found an app, but it doesn’t work in Chrome because Google sees being able to undo as a crutch, so this was written in Word.
“Undo”… what?
Undo isn’t a feature of the OS. Undo is a feature of applications, typically editing applications. Which would give you editing actions. To undo, if needed.
When come back, bring explanation.
I, as a nerd from way back, understand a modern operating system to be a framework on which to hang useful bits from an extensive library, much of the library preexisting to maintain consistency across the apps others create. No point in reinventing the wheel, and all. An undo function should be one of those us useful bits, just like reading a keyboard or displaying an image. Microsoft wrote it’s own for Word, but at the typical price for Android apps, free, it appears that many developers chose to skip the effort.
What’s an example of something you can’t “undo” on an Android device, but can on the equivalent Apple?
The “shake to undo” thing on iOS is not an iOS functionality, it’s a suggestion from Apple to app developers.
Anyway I just checked and Chrome on Android supports undo, through the Ctrl-Z shortcut. It’s the same shortcut as on the Windows version.
The complication being, of course, that standard Android keyboards don’t have a Control key. But certain alternate keyboards do. I like Hacker’s Keyboard, although the keys become ridiculously small and crowded.
Personally, I’m stuck on the daughter’s Lenovo (phone? tablet?) having cost less than two dollars.
And yes, Undo is something every app maker has to code, there’s no free lunch. In most cases, it has to be designed in from the start. Some do, most don’t.
Exactly what sort of situations are we looking to “undo” here?
If we’re talking about text editing, then the lack of ctrl-z is in the same category as the lack of ctrl-c and ctrl-v, and so on, but at least there are other ways to copy and paste without the keyboard.
But maybe we’re talking about situations where I deleted a file or something, and then I immediately realize that it was a mistake. This is a much more serious shortcoming of Android. Not only is there no quick-and-easy ctrl-z that would undelete the file, but I don’t think Android even has anything similar to a Recycle Bin that stores my deleted stuff.
How are you deleting files in Android? I use ASUS File Manager, and it most certainly does have a Recycle Bin.
–Mark
True. I should have added that I tried it with Swiftkey.
I’m liking it! But why the fuck does it have a Scroll Lock key? Haven’t used that since my DOS Framework days. Never mind. I will enjoy having arrow keys again.
Thanks!
A delete to the right button would help.
This comes across as a solution in search of a problem. I cant really picture a scenario where undo on the android platform would be useful. Can you give some examples where you’d use the function?
I think he just means text undu.
and then a tab to the left - and everything’s alright.
it’s like the keyboard shortcuts will drive you insanenane ane
lets do the undo again!
Yes, text undo. A touchscreen, especially one as oversensitive as this Lenovo, can result in overdeleting. Undo can save a lot of extra work.
My TRS-80 Model 100, circa 1983 with an operating system and several applications crammed into 32k, proving that Bill Gates, unlike his staff, can write taut code, lacks a forward delete button but you get the same thing from shift-backspace. Android? No such luck, though Google’s keyboard alone is a 50mb app.
When I delete too much the next suggested word in predictive text is the last word deleted. I can rebuild my deleted words one at a time with single clicks.
Also, if I’m deleting a lot of text I tend to click, hold, and drag to highlight what I want gone and delete it with one single backspace.
If you have Lollipop (Android 5.0) or higher OS you can use the “Inputting Plus” App. It adds an undo function for text.
Should be available in the goggle play area.